Using video in your marketing

Should you be using video in your marketing? Is bad video good marketing? The answer could very well be a resounding yes - video may be a great resource for your marketing. But how good does it have to be - and how difficult is video? 
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For a variety of reasons video has really come into its own for marketing. First of all, it’s almost free to create video nowadays and, thanks to the popularity of YouTube, there is a big opportunity as well. First the opportunity.

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Facebook is looking over at YouTube and seeing how popular, and profitable, that part of Google is and they want a piece of that action. Basically Facebook wants to be your entire Internet experience, if you didn’t know. So when you use video in your Facebook posts that company actually does a better job of serving it to people. They’re pushing video and will shows yours to more people than they would a still picture or text-only post. 

In fact, if you haven’t ever seen a Facebook Live video promoted to you I’d be surprised. Facebook Live is where someone takes their phone and goes live, spewing whatever information they choose to share immediately live on camera as it happens. Facebook has seen just how popular these live videos can be and so they are highly promoted by Facebook themselves. 

In the next few weeks we’ll discuss more on each of these subcategories so stay tuned but there is definitely a way to use Facebook Live video in your marketing. 

Even when the videos aren’t live, Facebook still serves up videos more than just text or pictures. 

For example, when I create posts to promote my own automotive-themed podcast and I simply use a single image those posts don’t get very far and I often have to back them with a little bit of money to increase the reach. However when I make a simple slide show with an audio track behind it the reach goes much, much further. How much more? Sometimes 2-3 times as far often reaching the audience of the paid posts. 

Of course YouTube is still a huge factor in video, especially with younger audiences where they often don’t even bother with traditional TV. So you can use YouTube as a marketing tool as well. 

A friend of mine, Josh Winters, does RV walk-through videos. Now you would think that these videos, which are simply him walking through an RV and explaining its features, wouldn’t get much traction. Au contrair! At the present time he has over 44,000 subscribers and he gets people all over the country coming and buying RVs from his operation in Michigan, some actually asking to sign their rigs. 

Another friend, Robert Morales, does travelogue videos. When I was recently in Quartzsite and met-up with Robert he couldn’t sit at the bar more than a few minutes before someone came up and doted on him as you might a movie star and his primary income now is his YouTube channel with 75,000 subscribers.

Neither of these two examples spends huge amounts of money on production, editing or anything else that you associate with video. Robert does do a lot of editing just because he shoots so much video and Josh basically points and shoots and publishes. 

What both of these creators have in common; however, is authenticity. The videos they’re creating have an authenticity and that’s why people are watching. YouTube has an honesty that wasn’t present in TV which is part of what makes it popular. 

Look around your business - there might be something that would truly fascinate and captivate people and you may be the first in your category to do videos on the subject which would open a whole new door to you. And really get the word out about your business for free. 

In fact, if your videos get popular enough on YouTube did you know that YouTube may actually pay you for them? 

Today with smart phones and other camera options video can easily, and inexpensively, be a part of your marketing. This month we’ll dedicate entirely to video as a marketing tool.

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